HOLLAND, MI — Adam DeBoer practically grew up in the water, spending most of his summer weekends in Lake Michigan.

The former college swimmer now is a police officer who loves plying his sport in the big lake. He understands it's a powerful force whose conditions can turn dangerous without warning.

Still, his recent jump into 50-some degree water still brought a shock, all in the name of safety.

“The water was cold. That was the worst part," laughed DeBoer, one of 17 people who braved Lake Michigan's chill last weekend to earn surf lifeguard certification for open waters — a designation that includes the big lake.

The three-day event drew participants from across the country. But it was the high number of drownings in the Great Lakes region — and the desire to return lifeguards to beaches here — that was the impetus for holding the training in West Michigan.

Dave Benjamin, executive director of the Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project, and event organizers have made it their mission to institute a region-wide standard of lifeguarding on the Great Lakes.

The organization, with assistance from Bob Pratt, its director of education, reached out to the International Surf Lifesaving Association to set up the three-day certification course at Holland’s Camp Geneva.

At least 60 people have drowned in the Great Lakes so far this year, and at least 322 people have lost their lives in water-related incidents in the region since 2010, according to the Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project.

“Those statistics blew my mind,” said Koon, who grew up and lifeguards in the area of the iconic Huntington Beach, Calif. “If there’s more than a couple drownings a year (in that area of California), people freak out.

“It’s a big deal.”

Across West Michigan, Koon said many people seem to react with apathy to news of another Great Lakes drowning.

Benjamin agrees and wants to change that attitude. Events like last weekend's are part of that plan.

Bootcamp training

Day one of training started promptly at 8 a.m. with a 500-meter swim to two buoys and back.

“It taxed me; it really pushed me to my limits,” Bruce Macartney, a teacher at Forest Hills Eastern High School, said of the three-day event. “It was very humbling, but I feel very grateful that I made it out alive.”

Training was comprised of at least five physical activities in the lake, coupled with hours of classroom lecture. Certification was earned only after passing an instructor-led mock drowning with a final exam.

One of the first lessons involved the very basics of the water: Waves, rip currents and the conditions that create them.

The course’s students — even its six instructors — traveled on their own dime to attend. Some hailed from Connecticut, Florida, Minnesota and North Carolina.

The course is a step forward for organizers with Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project’s goal to conduct additional, specialized training for those wanting to lifeguard in the Great Lakes.

Ideally, Benjamin and his team of volunteers want to train the next generation of lifeguards and put them back on the beaches where they’re needed, he said.

The weekend of military-like bootcamp training resulted in all of its participants earning certificates, Benjamin said. ISLA organizers say a handful of students typically don’t finish the training.

“I’m ecstatic. It's amazing that we could have this high of a completion level with such a wide range of people attending the class, even guys in their 50s,” Benjamin said.

During the freezing winter of 2010, Benjamin had a near-drowning experience while surfing along the Northern Indiana shoreline. The waves knocked him to the lakebed and pushed him closer to some jagged, icy rocks.

Benjamin panicked, but forced himself to stop and think. He knew what to do — stay calm and relax before floating to shore in his wetsuit.

More people need the judgement to be safe out in the open waters, and lifeguards will be at the front lines, Benjamin said.

“Doing all of this is pretty simple: It’s to help prevent accidents and educate ourselves to help us serve more people when they’re in need,” Benjamin said.

Andrew Krietz covers breaking and general police/fire news for MLive | The Grand Rapids Press. Email him at akrietz@mlive.com or follow him on Twitter.